Night Before...

Not too much shaking except the 8 to 10 bottle of nutrition I just mixed up for tomorrow's throw down.

Spent the afternoon at the course getting the pop-up and tent set up, number plates on, etc., etc., Big thanks to Fernando who was the with The Prowler for his help with the pop-up. Got a good spot at the mile 8 marker and not too far away from the check in if I have to clock out and get to the pits for something after a lap. Should be the tits.

Got down here to my dad's around 7, kissed the B-Man and Wifey and commenced filling my gut with some chicken/spinach/olive oil pasta. Now I'm having a night before flatus event.

Oh well, this is it 'till Sunday. Have a great weekend. Good luck to all the folks racing this weekend at the Springs as well as Solo Worlds, and the SM100. Look forward to reading all the reports on Monday.

Later.

I AM A LIVING SIGN!!!!

First things first- I am pack, locked and loaded for my trip up to Seven Springs tomorrow and Saturday's 24 Hour Champion Challenge. Packing and organizing is the THEEEE biggest pain in the ass about doing a Solo. Shit, the race seems to be an after thought by the time you're done.

Second things Second- Salsa has some web site updates including a slew of complete bike builds. My fave being the new (slightly re-designed) El Mariachi. Check it out...

Notice the seat tube/top tube brace is gone, making a cleaner look. Damn sweet 1x9 package. Not sure what MSRP will be yet. Check out the other complete builds available HERE. Including my 2nd fave the La Cruz CX Disc Complete. Damn! This is just what we know now. More goodies are certain to come at InterBike at the end of September! UPDATE: Jason B. checked in on MTBR with this info: MSRP will be similar to last year's complete (about $1600). Probably slightly higher due to some component upgrades such as a new crank to allow one to add gears up front if they choose. Should be available late September early October )

Now 3rd things- The unleashing of nervous energy via the key board.....

Note to self: If I have a sore throat tomorrow I AM NOT SICK. It was merely from singing "Vicar In A Tu Tu" at the top of my lungs. Thing is, I really don't dig the song that much. But when you've been listening to The Smiths as long as I have you pretty much know all the songs inside and out, even the stinkers. And for some reason 5:05 on my last day of work before this weekend's 24 seemed like the PERFECT time to be driving and singing like a campy fool...

"as natural as Rain he dances again My God
the vicar in a tu-tu the vicar in a tu-tu"

For the record the song was the live version from Rank. There is a bootleg of the same show called "Dance With Octopuses" which contains a few songs not on the CD but also is minus some of the songs that ARE.

Many folks hate Rank. I dig it. It has the added guitar of Craig Gannon and it really pumped the sound up. They sounded more a rock band than the jangle pop that they are often thought of. Just my 2¢, which is worth less and also which is WAY more than you wanted on a blog about mountain biking. ;)

Later, time to eat.

Itching

I'm itching to get racing!

It's been too long since the 101. I was keyed up for the 18 Hours On The Farm and of course that got canceled. Now I'm itching to race big time, and what better way to get a high mileage race fix on than to go ballz out and do a solo 24 this weekend at the 24 Hour Champion Challenge.

In a season where I had NO Solo 24s scheduled, I'm unsure of what my approach will be, or if I even ever really have "an approach". Part of me wishes I was heading down to the SM100, but truth be told, even though I love the 100 mile races and the format, I do tend to at least PRETEND that I'm competitive at Solo events.

The Champion Challenge is great, since it's so close to home, a great course and even if there aren't a ton of racers that show up, you can be sure a bunch of the locals (Western PA area) racers are showing.

So far the weather looks to be good for the weekend. Sun with highs in the low 70s and lows in the high 50s. Although on the mountain at 3 a.m. 50 will be more like 45 and 45 will feel damn cold!! As long as there is NO F*CKING HURRICANE RAINS like '06, it will be good.

One more day of work and then tomorrow night will be spent topping off charges on my lights, getting some camp gear set, and mellowing out. I've set my goals (which I do not speak of except to myself) and my mojo is high. The only thing I'm NOT looking forward to is that f*cking run!! Grrrrr! 175lbs. and I run like I weigh 500!!! The only thing missing is thigh burn!!

Well time to look at (bike) porn and get some sleep.

Later

A Trashy Ride

Actually I had a pretty sweet laid back road ride tonight. Just spinning along, watching my shadow.

About half way in I started doing the "trash story game". What's that you ask? Well every piece of litter I see I imagine the "story" behind said piece of litter. You know- What kind of person purchased the 120 oz. Big Mega Slam Bucket O'Soda from McDonalds? Why is there one shoe laying in the middle of the road? Why in God's name is there a pair of underwear on the side of the road? etc., etc., .

Go with that thought 'till you spy the next piece of trash, then move on to the next story. With as much trash as one can find on the roads around here, it can be quite maddening. Especially for someone like myself with a tad of an overactive imagination. Actually it's sort of sad that I see that much litter. The top 3 road side litter items in Western PA are as follows (in now order)

1. Fast food bags, wrappers, and cups.

2. Beer Bottles. Mostly bad beer. I once saw a Penn Nickolaus Bock and was shocked! It's usually Bud Light, Bush Pounders, or Iron City.

3. Water Bottles. Sad because water is SO damn good for you but maybe we need to just drink it out of reusable bottles/cups. I mean do we need to buy that much bottled water? We're not in the Amazon jungle, we HAVE water treatment plants, running water, etc., etc., I'm glad everyone's hydrating since they're pumping their gut's with fast food and bad beer, but can we throw the bottle in the trash PLEASE??

And don't get me going on the amount of cigarettes on the road. When did it become acceptable for smokers to throw their butts out the widow of the car??? GGRRRRRR! That gets me fired up. Ok, ok, I'm breathing, I'm breathing....

Anyway enough trash talk. Got a nice 30 mile/1:45 ride in. Came home and friggin' inhaled a plate or three of Cheezy Tuna Spinach Bake. Now I feel like I need to pass a bowling ball!

News on the street (or from Salsa) that by the end of the week we all should be seeing some updates to their website as well as some new goodies unveiled at EuroBike. Keep you ballz peeled! I can only hope that they have nothing too sweet for '08. I hope it's all commuter bikes and recumbents. I doubt though. I'm sure they'll find something that will make me want to sell plasma to buy in '08. CURSE YOU SALSA!!

Later.

Every Day Is Like Monday

Not much going on today. A Monday. Back to work and the grind. Nice to have the race to look forward to.

Got my new Salsa finger mitts tonight. See to be pretty sweet. Should have some feed back on them after this weekend's body thrashing.

No ride tonight. After two good days of road riding I took tonight off and Wifey and I tended to some business tonight...
Heard from JB tonight. He's coming up to the Springs to take some of his killer picts and hang out as he did last year and is letting me borrow his NiteRider Moab. This is gonna be sweet. I'll use it on the bars and will be able to push a burn time to roughly 11 hours on medium. Combined with my helmet light, the only thing I'll really have to blame on my poor night lap times is an utter lack of ability ;)



I'll probably hit up a low key road ride tomorrow and then maybe another later in the week.

For now it's off for some Boca Chick Burgers and Baked 'Tater Chunks.

Later.

Squat Bellied & Grout Headed...

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was so dog ball hot I couldn't breathe, today after a cold front moved through last night, I felt like I had a motor going up hill and a 50 pound weight was taken from off my back. So it was a very enjoyable 40/2:15 on the road.

Sadly last night's Mexican feast turn out poorly IMO. I used whole wheat flour tortilla's. Why do whole wheat tortillas have an odd sweet taste to them. RUINED my Tortilla Bake. Plus they offered the promise of 5 grams of fiber per serving. I really expected to put in some quality "dump out" time this a.m., but nothing. Just my norm. Not like you freaking care, just an observation that I thing the folks at Azteca foods are full of dung and make a suck whole wheat tortilla. The white ones rock though.

Now to go COMPLETELY off the subject of mountain biking...

Want to kill some time looking at mutant vegetables?
Check out the Mutatocollection.

For some reason I have found humor in Retro Zoology and just listened to this reading about a Hippo from a 1678 zoology book. Why? Issues I suppose. But you knew that.

"The teeth are hard as flint, and will strike sparks,
so that by night rubbing his teeth, he seems to vomit fire."

That sound like me after "Mexican Night"!

Later.

Sometimes I Want The Fat

Got out around 10 a.m. for the road ride today. Temps were already kicking it in the 80s and would only increase.

Didn't want to do too much today, since a long ride with a 24 Solo a week out would only decrease my fitness, especially with the friggin' heat. So I figured I'd do a slightly shorter version of my normal weekend road ride, including the BIG ASS ASS climb near the finish.

Shorter SOUNDED nice, but in reality it was still hot as balls and 35 miles felt like 50! The last climb was unreal. Just the sun, 90 degree heat, a big ass hill, and ME going 5.5 MPH for about 5 minutes or more.

But I got it done, and enjoyed the down hill to Lincoln Way and the cruise back to the Soob.

_________________________________________

During my post-ride yard work ALL I could think about was my homemade guacamole. I could not wait to finish up, shower and get to the store for my Avocados.

Get to the store and they have NO FREAKING AVOCADOS!! WTF? All they had were organic ($5.79, no thanks) and some sort of "lower fat Avocado", the SlimCado they called it. It looked more like a Mango than an Avocado. So I figured, how bad could the "low fat" Avocado be?

Well, in a word- Bad. Not HORRIBLE, but damn bad. NOT creamy like a regular one at all. Usually I can mash up the Guac with fork. No way, I had to use a food processor and the consistency was more like that of pureed celery than an Avocado. F!

The REAL Avocado...

My kingdom for a freaking REAL Avocado!!!!!!

Then THIS view of a SlimCado. They should call it a SuckAdo...
For another's view of the SlimCado, check out THIS spot on report. I hear you brother!

So I get back in the Soob and head to another Giant Eagle (BASTARDS!!) Again, NOTHING!!! Shit. Oh well, I'll have to make up for no Guac with some kick ass Chicken Fajita Bake.

_________________________________________

On the bright side of all this, I FINALLY got to taste the Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter I picked up the other day. All I can say is DAMN! This might be one of the best brews I tasted all summer.

It's a porter, with a great roasty taste and a BIG hop finish at 53 IBUs!. If you dig hops you dig this stuff. Despite the big hop finish it comes in at a nice 5.8% ABV so you can have a couple and not have to worry about making a real ass of yourself or waking up in an alley with your pants down and a pacifier in your mouth. Damn this is good.

Oh well, the ride is done, yard work done, dinner prep is done, all that's left to do is relax and see there might be crime that needs fighting.

One week till the 24! Whooo hoooo!

Later.

Friday Goodness

Another work week comes to an end. Another week ends where I drive home thinking how I am SO F*CKING removed from the working of a "normal" business person's mind. I don't concern myself with stats, numbers, hours, dollars. Just did it look good? Is it right? Is my work done? Can I leave now? I

Edit: Removed a rant about my distaste for the business world. A Friday night and the promise of the weekend has eased it a bit.

Oh well, the weekend is too short to dwell too much on all that shit though. That is what the work week is for. My slack has it privileges. 4 weeks time off, no responsibility, and time to ride my bike. Plus it's these things that make Friday's all that much better. Time to see friends (KoKo!!!), Wifey, B-Man, have some pizza, a beverage or six and get my cheeks in the saddle. THAT is what it's all about.

Alright 'nuff of my workday rants. Wifey, B-Man and I got to go out for pizza with my Floridian friend KoKo tonight and that rocked. Always nice to see DK. Only with Double K and the H-Dawg could have come up too.

Heard this piece of news yesterday via BG at T6, but figured I'd let the folks that were directly involved enjoy the telling of it. Life's sweet when you a "cover jersey".

Look to get out on the road tomorrow to sweat out the 15,000 calories worth of pizza I ate tonight.

Later.

I Borrow. That's What I Do.

Shot over to Tom's house tonight to borrow some stuff for next week's race. I have a pop up tent but Tom has like the "Cadillac of EZ Ups" so, since I'm gonna have my main chicky (Wifey) as my pit crew I gotz to make her comfy. Scored some heat and a tent too. 24 Hours of racing a least ONE of us should be comfy!

Tom went over the Dos Niner and Mamasita too to make sure they were a go. I got some new Hope pads on both bikes rear brakes too. On the Dos Niner because they needed it and on the Mamasita 'cause the Kool Stop one's I had on there smoked pole.

Tire wise I think I'm going to run the Panaracer Rampage 2.35 on the front and the IRD/Panaracer Fire Pro in the rear. This should give me a nice balance of big and fat for the rocks and hook up in the rear.

______________________________

FOR SALE: My buddy Yancy, who is a Cannondale junkie, has decided to pre-order an '08 F-29, so in order to pay for said 29er he is selling his '07 Cannondale Cyclocross Optimo Disc (Size 58c). If you're interested drop me an e mail and I'll put you in touch with the seller. He also has an Optimo mountain bike w/Lefty for sale too for like $500 (size Large). I TRIED to get him out of the Cannondale cult, but I can't he's in too deep. The dirt loving teachings of Salsa are SO much easier to adhere to (Ride & Smile), but he would NOT sway.

______________________________

Nice little write up over on Sauserwind.com about Christoph "Susi" Sauser's Marathon World Championship win. Check entry 8.12.07.

Also interesting is the thread over on the mtbr.com Endurance forum asking why there were no Americans in the Marathon World Cup championships. I have to agree with the consensus, that it is just NOT cost effective. Flights, hotels, entries, etc., it would be more than most American pro racers annual budget for the year! I mean it's not like there were Euros coming over to race in the NUE Series! Travel takes a LOT of jing. It's hard enough to coordinate and pay for travel in the States let alone going to Europe!

Speaking of the NUE series looks like Floyd is going to do the SM100. Say what you want about his innocence or lack ther of, but I STILL would have been thrilled to race in the same class as a Tour de France champion (for now). But instead I'll be getting my 24 hours of freak on at Seven Springs. That is also damn fun though, so not bitching here.

Also the updated NUE rankings are out. Check 'em out. Nice to see Phlug holding on to the 3 spot. Look out though 'cause I'm a close 37th!!

Oh well, no ride tomorrow. Wifey, B-Man and I are off to dine with Ko-Ko my Floridian friend who's back in the area to visit some folks. Should be sorta, kinda, ok, to see him again. ;)

Later.

Hog Heaven And A Gnat's Tail

FINALLY got to road ride tonight. Did a shortish (meaning -1 big climb) 30 mile loop. Amazingly enough, NO rain. I even saw some hazy sunshine for a bit. The heat was up there, but the freaking humidity was packing the intensity of some Double D Fromundah Boob. I mean it was hard to breath!

Regardless of the heat, it was good to be in the saddle and I felt pretty good. On one farm road late in the ride I saw a family of deer walking across the road. Three fawns and a Doe. It was classic to see them walking across the road and into the field in the late evening haze. As I passed they froze and let me just take it all in.

Seeing sites like that just re-affirms my lack of desire to EVER do any kind of urban riding again. Some folks live for it. I can respect that. I've done it in the past, but If I never get behind another bus, dodge another pedestrian, or suck in city stank again, I'll be damn happy.

Having said that, this low(er) traffic ride was not without it's excitement. At mile 29 I was coming down a hill at nearly 30 mph, I had no stop sign. A helmetless dude on a Harley at a stop sign (Helmet laws suck! Brain damage rocks!), fails to look to his left (where I AM coming from) and pulls out. I was able to lock it up and skid around him. We both came to a stop, breathed a sigh of relief and went on our way.

I made it back to the Soob, which I have parked in bare spot on the side of a road, because for SOME reason the soccer field parking lot where I normally park for this loop was gated and locked. I get the Trek on the car, empty my jersey pockets and sit the Soob's door locker thing-a-ma-bob on top the roof until I get my shit put away. I get my gear off, swat the millions of gnats that are buzzing around in the air, and head home.

As I'm going up a HUGE hill I hear something slide on the roof. Yep. It's the door locker thing-a-ma-bob!! I pull over and amazingly enough it's STILL sitting there. I've said it before, I'll say it again. I get dumber every day! In another 5 years I'll need someone to tie my shoes and cut my food.

Off to Tom's tomorrow to borrow some gear for next weekend's 24 and prep the bikes.

Later.

Los Motos and Rain

Seems like we're in about hour 50 of rain and grey. Have you ever gone into the kitchen and found a wet used dish rag laying in your sink covered with stank and bits of food? Well, that is what Pittsburgh has felt like the past 3 days or so. Dear God make it stop!

No spin and no ride tonight. Just hung out, made some damn tasty pasta stir fry and had a Two Hearted Ale. I also took the opportunity to purchase some new gloves. The Salsa Los Motos should be here sometime this week.

Prep for The Springs continues and I am slowly working my way towards being able to running 2 lights all night. I have a feeling I'll have more hours of light than energy to actually ride, but hey, whatever it takes.
I had to order up some new gloves too. My SixSixOne MTX gloves put up a good fight, but when your fingers find themselves the WHOLE way through the glove, it's time. Went with the Salsa Los Motos.

Should be on my hands by the end of the week. Hope so. The SixSixOne's are hanging by a thread! I rode the hell out of the them though. Off road, on road, races, etc.,

I must say with all this rain I've been having nightmares that the 07 Champion Challenge will be like the 06. God I hope not!! That would just be cruel!

Hope to FINALLY get some time on the road tomorrow. If not it will be back on the trainer for more spinning.

In music news the new Black Francis (he was Black Francis in The Pixies, then became Frank Black and is now Black Francis again) cd titled "Bluefinger" is due out on Sept. 11th in the U.S.. Sounds like a good one. VERY geeked. A couple of samples are up on the web. Check it out HERE.

Later.

Monday's 3 Issues

Issue #1- It has not stopped pouring raining for over 24 hours and doesn't look to stop anytime soon. Yikes! I was forced to the Stankment® again tonight for an hour on the trainer to keep the meat sticks from turning into lard sticks. Damn! The trainer will be calling my name soon enough come late fall/winter and here I am in August with with "trainer cheek chap". If you look close on my ass you can faintly make out the words Selle Italia.

Oh well, sweat I my ass off due to the 99% humidity, then showered up and made up a skillet full of my Buffalo Chicken Rice & Beans. Been kicking some of my stuff up a notch in the heat dept. with some of this...

Mmm, mmm El Yucateco Picante Verde de Chili Habanero. Few drop for some added heat. It totally made my Guacamole yesterday too. Caliente! Which could induce Issue #2- Tuesday A.M. Post Coffee Fire Ass.

Issue #3... Speaking of spicy goodness. Salsa , (Salsa Cycles, not the food) has been on my mind lately. Mainly because I've been following THIS STORY on the MTBR.com Salsa Forum for the past day or so. Some dude broke his El Mariachi Complete when his derailleur jammed into his wheel. Somehow he jams up, locks his wheel and snaps his drop out. Bummer. Sends the frame in for a warranty claim and it was denied since it was not a manufacturers defect. So he's kinda pissed.

I wanted to post my thoughts to him, but felt like with Salsa as a sponsor, it would not be taken seriously. So I figured I'd just think out loud here a bit. Since this is MY forum!

It sucks that his frame broke. I feel for him. I know back in June when my '06 Dos Niner broke, I felt an instant need to vomit. A LOT! I was sick!! I had no idea what Salsa's take on the cracked frame would be, and at best hoped that they would throw some discount love my way in addition to the love they give the team.

Well, upon seeing the issue they warrantied my frame since it was apparent that is wasn't from something like a crash or hucking off of 5' drop. They hooked me up with a new frame pronto. I was beyond happy with them, and somewhat speechless. I can not thank them enough.

I've not seen the dude's frame and I'm obviously NO engineer, but I've broken replaceable hangers before at low speeds, so I can see where even at 10 mph (he doesn't mention how fast he was going on the "smooth double track") the force of some sort of derailleur/wheel/chain jam could lay some serious smack on a frame's drop out. Sad, but not a frame issue. It's a derailleur/wheel/chain jam issue. Who knows what caused it. I've had sticks the size of my pinky finger nearly rip shit clean off my bike. Who know's (or can prove) what he hit, or what may have popped up as his wheels passed over.

I've followed the forums, chatted with the head P-Man and ridden Salsa frames for 3+ years now, and I have NO reason to think they they're trying to feed this guy any bull shit. They've inspected his frame and from what I gathered from his posts, it looks like it may be possible for him to get a crash replacement discount of close to $300 off MSRP. Not bad for something that was not the frame's fault.

Like I said this is just my opinion based on the posts on MTBR.com, but after following this story I needed to put down my thoughts on this. I hope he takes advantage of the discount and will enjoy the ride. I've broken my share of shit over the years and so far the only thing I ever got warrantied was my Salsa frame! Good luck to him, I hope it works out.

Oh well, time for some shut eye.

Later.

Sat. & Sun. Recaped

So last night Wifey, B-Man and I head to local amusement park Kennywood. Look beyond the Racer roller coaster and you can see steel mills cranking out, ah, well steel. Look right in front of you and you'll see a field of "Stiller" jerseys, mullets, and obese folks sucking down Tater Patch fries and ice cream cone after ice cream cone. Nothing against those folks (do what you want folks) or the park, it's just that the amusement park thing is not my scene. Hell, I'm not sure going out in public is my scene anymore, but that's another post and another therapy session.

BUT we were looking for some "unit time" and the park is close, so off to K-Wood. For all my issues with the park etc., it was worth every single second to see how much B-Man enjoyed himself. Getting to ride the rides with him and see him screaming, giggling, and smiling his ass off was worth it!

Another highlight (for me) was when we shared a car on The Turtle with a dude and his son. The dude who I kid you not looked like Bob Roll minus the hand motions and Tour DAY France lingo, but gaped tooth, and wearing a Live Strong bracelet, complements my Twin-Six Brew Pub T-Shirt and wanted to know about it. Nice! I spun on The Turtle with smug satisfaction and a grin on my face as I watched B-Man yell "whooo hooooo!!"

RANT: A LOOOOOW LIGHT was that the park of course played (Pittsburgh's (not mine) fave genre) "classic rock" most of the night over the loud speakers UNTIL the Steelers pre-season game started and they PLAYED IT OVER THE SPEAKERS IN THE PARK!!!!! Now it's no secret that over the years I've grown to HATE football (over weight, over paid, under educated, doofuss's that think because they're athletes they can get away with anything and still have the general public loving them, etc., etc,) but to play a PRE SEASON game over an amusement park's speakers system I mean REALLY??? RANT OFF. EDIT- I realize that ALL football players do not fall into my generalization above. It's just my perception via the sports media. I know there are some class guys out there, they just don't seem to get the press.

Anyway after 3:30 on the bike and then 5 hours at the park, I was freaking dead on my feet come 10 p.m. and this a.m. I could have slept forever. B-Man on the other hand was up at 7 a.m. (HOW???)

The weather today was shit (rain and 60 degrees). I did some cleaning and moped around the house 'till I got the itch to spin my legs and went to the Stankment® to spin for an hour and listen to the latest LCD Soundsystem. Damn I dig them. "sound of silver talk to me..."

The it was off to the "Mart" for some groceries and then home to mix up some homemade Guacamole. I have some Two Hearted Ales chilling and an itch to light the colon on fire with some of my White Trash Mexican food.

I heard from J.B. who went and helped with some of the clean up at the Scout camp were the 18 Hours On The Farm was to be held. He said most of the Goochland area is STILL without power and that the storm f*cked the area pretty good. He said there was a nice turn out of folks to help clean up. Wish I could have helped out.

Sucks that the race got f*cked, but have to say I am getting pretty geeked to do the Springs. I'll be going pretty basic and with Wifey as my pit crew. The Dos Niner will be my race rig and my Mamasita will serve as my back up. Goals are modest after last year's hurricane induced ankle grabbing, so I'll start with bettering my previous best 11 laps a few years ago. We'll see though, in a 24 ANYTHING can happen.

OK, that's it. Time to go spark the Mexican fire to my colon.

Later.

Seven Springs Recon #1

Headed up to the Springs this a.m.. Great freaking weather! Mid 60s on the mountain and sunshine. Got in two laps of the race course, so that's about 25 miles of riding.

This course is hands down one of the best race course I've done. It has it all. Technical rock gardens, roots, fast rocky double track, BIG climbs, and some gnarly descents that will definitely put some hair on your legs.

IMHO it MAY be a tad long for some folks. Riding an easy pace it takes about 1:30 or so for me to do fresh, so for the folks that are running older light set ups, they will really be pushing some burn times.

I've also taken the liberty of renaming the rock garden on the 2nd half of the course (after you pass the Alpine Slide) the Philip Seymour Hoffman Memorial Trail. Why? Because as soon as I got ballz deep into the most technical part of the rocks, Big Lebowski era P.S.H. (Brandt) pops into my head. I got distracted and had to walk a stretch of rock.

Bunny Lebowski: EDIT: offers to let's say "pleasure" the Dude. I can't write it here.
Brandt: Ah hahahahaha! Wonderful woman. We're all, we're all very fond of her. Very free-spirited.
Bunny Lebowski: Brandt can't watch, though, or he has to pay a hundred.
Brandt: Ah haha. That's marvelous.
The Dude: Uh, I'm just gonna go find a cash machine.

I flatted on my second lap with about 3 miles to go. I go to put the tube in and SOMEhow I have a 26" tube! WTF? No worries though, you just need to pump a little more air than usual into the tube before working into your tire to stretch it out a bit, then shoot it with two Co2s- Done. I haven't even bought a 26" tube in over a year and don't even own a 26" bike. Hmm. All turned out ok though. Mounted up and finished the ride with no problem.

Wifey, B-Man and I are heading to Kennywood tonight rather than tomorrow. Should be a pretty ok, not bad time. I just hope I don't catch gonorrhea or some kind of ass disease sitting in the watery ass stank of the Log Jammer.

Later.

Refocussing

Wow, what a day!! All packed, hotel reserved, cabin rented, adrenaline coursing through my veins and the spasticity (word?) of my colon turned up to 11.

Then I get the e mail this afternoon that the 18 Hours On The Farm is canceled do to major storm damage to the camp area and trails.

First let me say I hope the damage is not too costly and that none of the Boy Scout facilities were damaged. I feel so bad for the amount of work that CyclesEd and all the folks put into the race. I hope they can salvage something. As for me, even if rescheduled I will most likely be passing on it, and moving on to my next event.

I was able to get a refund on my hotel room, and Wifey being top notch encouraged me to say "what the f*ck", enlist MasterCard as a "sponsor" and sign up for The 24 Hour Champion Challenge on Labor Day Weekend.

So now it's time to refocus from an 18 hour race on a fast 9.5 mile single track course to a 24 hour race on a 12.5+ course that is more technical, with more climbing, not to mention 6 more hours!!! In a way this is cool. I was just saying the other day that I was sad to miss the race. Now I'm not. I hate to pay that kind of fee for a Solo, but like any good junkie, you do what you gotta do to get a fix. So maybe the 5th (4th Solo) time will be the charm!!

So tomorrow I will be off to Seven Springs for a couple/few laps on the course. Then Sunday, Wifey and I are taking B-Man to Kennywood.

Later.

NO GO

Just found out the 18 Hours is CANCELED due to storm damage
to the Scout camp. Race aborted. More details to come I'm sure.

Anyone want to help me pay for the 24 Hour Champion Challenge? ;)

Later.

Let It Begin

So the packing, organizing and over packing has begun. Why do I insist on bringing everything?? I think I may have just packed winter gloves!! Virginia in August? Hell yeah, pack the f*cking gloves! The dining room is once again filled with every sort of bike, camp, food, and lighting item we own. 'Cause you NEVER know! My only hope is that all this fits in the freaking Soob! Plus add in a Wifey and a B-Man and you got the making for a tight squeeze. I wonder if Wifey will mind holding 29" wheel for 5.5 hours?

That's why I want this...

I LOVE this thing! If I'm ever in Japan, I might pick one up.

Wifey and I are taking a half days tomorrow. Come home pack up the Soob, grab the B-Man and head to Harrisonburg to spend the night. Then it will be on to Goochland in the a.m.. As of now there looks to be close to 30 Solos. That's damn nice turn out for an 18 race.

Goal: Ride bike in the woods for as many laps as possible over 18 hours. Oh wait that's EVERYBODY'S goal. Well then, that's easy. Actually, I of course want to do as well as possible, have some fun, try not to die, not puke, and let my son have a chance to see me race.

If you're racing this coming weekend (Rick, Andy, J.B., Andrew, Allan, Dicky, and others) have fun and good luck.

Later.

A Rub & A Tug Road Ride

Nice post work 30 mile ride tonight. Nice spinning, blowing some of the pent up energy out of my legs. Sitting in a cubical all day obsessing about a race seem to build up a LOT of nervous energy. Thank God for the mental masturbation that is riding my bike.

Wish I would had my camera with me tonight. I found what would have been the perfect companion photo to the the empty bottle of KY Jelly I saw a few weeks ago. Some chick's birth control pack on the side of the road. Nice. What the hell goes on on the back roads around here??

Ride was low key, with just a few bursts to get some work in the legs. This will be the last ride before the race. Wifey, B-Man and I are gonna drive to Harrisonburg on Friday night, stay in a motel. That will allow us a short drive to da Gooch on Sat. Allowing B-Man to get some play time in at the venue instead of being couped up in the car. Not to mention it saves me from driving 5+ hours, getting out of the car and racing for 18 hours. That would have sort of sucked. This should be much better.

Check out these photos from the Marathon World Cup in Verviers, Belgium on August 12. These photos are from www.mtbs.cz. Great stuff.

Even if the above photo IS of Filip "I don't do drugs no more" Meihaeghe, it still rocks. Click HERE to see the the rest of the picts. There a some great picts.

Later.

The Best Made Plans...

Well tonight's ride will NOT be making my top 5 list for the year by any means, but it's suck level was sort of expected.

The weather was great, my legs felt great, but the ride was more of a CX ride than anything else. Most of the short time I rode was filled with dismounts and hike-a-bikes over numerous fallen trees of various sizes. I wanted to be pissed, but I just couldn't. These are my favorite trails in the area and they were f*cked hard from last Thursday's storm. In a word-It sucked.

I'm hoping that the good folks at PTAG can get some chainsaw clearance to clear some of the trails. I happened upon one rider who even brought a folding saw with him. On most of most of the trees it would be useless, but when I ran into him he was just getting ready to clear a smaller tree, or at least cut some of the branches off to make it rideable. I offered to stick around and help, but he said he had it under control. I thanked him for his work and moved on to the next dismount. I'm hoping to drop PTAG's Boyce Park steward an e mail to see if there are any future work days planned so I might be able to help 'em out.

I had only planned on riding about an hour to open up the legs. I made it about 45 minutes before I tired of the hike-a-bikes and then promptly flatted. It was a slow leak so I just rode the flaccid tire out. I can't believe I just used the word flaccid!! For some reason it seems to only ever be used when referring to the penis. In the same way that the word latent is used when referring to someones sexual orientation. Note to self, use it more! Freak people out with sentences like "Even though I'm a latent mountain biker I was content to ride the flaccid tire to the car".

As promised here is the 2007 Month of Mud Flyer. Click to enlarge.

That's about all I got. A sorry ass ride and a flyer. Might try to get on the road tomorrow.

Later.

Countdown and Schedule Stuff

So another race week is upon me and I'm starting to gear down then up for this weekend's 18 Hours On The Farm. Tonight was night one of gear and bike prep. Put some charges on my lights and got Dos Niner V.2 ready for the weekend.

Looks like this will most likely be the last lapped enduro of the year for me. The Champion Challenge is out due to it's proximity to this weekend's race and it's high $230 entry fee (yikes!). Sort of sad about that. This will be the first time I've missed it in 4 years. Oh well maybe next year.

I had thought about the 24 Hours of Mohican, but now I think I'll just finish up with some Marathon races. Possibly the (ill named) Rocktober Challenge, on September 9th, The WVMBA Big Bear Ultra, on September 22nd a and then maybe finish off with Iron Cross on October 14th. If I can make at least two of these I'll be happy.

Also coming in the fall will be the Month of Mud series starting on September 16th. (I scored at copy of the schedule from G. Pflug at the 101. If I remember I'll post it this week. Starts earlier this year and will have two pure CX courses, a mountain time trial and two XC races. Doubt I'll make too many of them since they'll conflict with some enduros, not to mention I'll get f*cking smoked!!

Low key ride tomorrow most likely at Boyce if I can avoid the storm damaged trails of last week. I hate to think of how many trees are down. I see trail maintenance in my future.

Later.

Spineless Swines & Cemented Minds

Got another sweet road ride in today. Rolled 40 miles out in Scottdale doing one of my fave loops. Legs felt snappy, and all in all a great ride. Not a bad way to kill 2:15 of my day.

The high light (or low light) was spying a dead snake on the side of the road. At first I thought it was alive and of course tightened up the old sphincter to prevent any uncontrollable evacs and swerved to the other side of the road. I then I noticed it was bloody and there were some flies buzzing around. I also noticed that it was much different than the usual snakes I see. When I got home I Googled it up and sure enough it was a freaking Copperhead.

I am EXXXXXtremely happy it was dead. I do NOT need to deal with the heeby-jeebies that snakes give me. Sorry snake lovers. Just do NOT dig these creatures.

To make up for my above snake hate, I'll throw some animal love at you. I am not Vegan or Vegetarian, but totally respect the folks who are and could probably be Vegetarian (not Vegan) without too much of a problem since I don't eat much meat anyway.

While I wouldn't wear the following clothing (not being a Vegan or Vegetarian) The designs are damn cool and I briefly thought about BECOMING a Vegetarian JUST to be able to wear the shirts. Check out Herbivore Clothing.

I think this one is my fave...

Designed by Illustrator Ray Frenden.

Oh well, that's it. Time to hang with Wifey 'till B-Man gets up from his nap.

Later.

Now That Felt Good

Got out by 10 a.m. for an extended road loop of about 43 miles. It was so freaking nice! After 2 weeks of riding in the heat and humidity it was nice just to be warm instead of baked, broiled and fried! Finished up in about 2:30.

Without stashing bottles or doing a loop where I pass the Soob again I really can't get more than 45 to 50 miles in on what water/drinks I can carry. Today it was 1 bottle Carbo Pro/Gatorade, 1 bottle Gatorade, 1 smaller bottle of water in my jersey pocket and 2 PowerGels.

Once home I shoved some olive oil noodles and tuna down my throat and then headed out for some lawn mowing and weed whacking. Little cross training to finish off the afternoon.

Wifey and I got ourselves a babysitter tonight so we're going out with Y-Nizzle and Miss M. Should be a good time.

Check out this article with local 24 hour solo racer Mike Schultz. Nice to see racing getting some press. Coincidentally the article was written by the paper I've worked for for the past 15 years. I guess I've kept my racing habit too far on the down low? HA! Monday I will in my cubical with my team kit on. ;)

Hope all are getting some miles in. Hope to ride again tomorrow then start tapering again for next Saturday.

Later.

A Peaceful Friday

No ride tonight as is my Friday ritual to rest my meat sticks for Saturday a.m.'s ride. Just a Double IPA and a Fat Dog to usher in the weekend's miles. Hung with B-Man, played with cars and acted like at 3 year old with not one ounce of embarrassment.

Me and my road bike will make nice and get some miles/hours in tomorrow. Looking forward.

Shocking News: I see that local Mountain Bike Meca- Speedgoat.com is taking pre-orders on the new Fox 32 F29 RLC Fork due out in October. I run Rock Shox Reba's on both my 29ers and can't complain one bit. Damn good forks. Once you find your comfort zone setting they're the shit. But I've also had the pleasure of using Fox 100 RLCs on my 26" bikes. I've never run anything so damn plush in my life.

It will be interesting to see the reviews of the forks once folks get some trail time in it. Will it be as plush wand wet dreamy as their 26" forks? I'd also like to see Rock Shox step up and try to get a 29er fork a little ligher. But without being the noodle that the SID was/is. Can it be done? DO IT!!

Later.

All I Have To Say Is...

"Buck This" indeed. Thanks to Twin-Six for hooking me up with The Buck.This jersey will rock the Western PA woods this deer season for sure. It's man enough to say "I hunt" but normal enough to say "I choose not to."

Today was a complete wash out. We got hit with some "wrath of God" type storms at 8:55 a.m.. Knocked out power, downed trees, flooded etc., I went to work only to have to bail at 11:35 because B-Man's day care closed do to no power/no phones.

So me and B-Man had some one on one time playing with cars and going to the playground. 3 p.m. more storms came in and then FINALLY at about 4 p.m. or so the power came back on.

So as you can imagine, NO ride today. Chalk today up to active recovery via the folks at Sierra Nevada, rest tomorrow and then some quality road rides on the weekend.

Getting geeked for next weekend's 18 hour solo. Feeling good about this one. Wifey and B-Man are coming down, John B., Andrew, etc., I think I saw Justin from P-Tech is going to be there too.

Oh well time to make up some keester burning Mexican food.

Later.

Damp But Not Rainy

I have no idea how I got out to ride after work tonight. There were thunderstorms all over the area but I threw up two middle digits to the clouds and went anyway.

The Ride Gods must have sensed my true desire to ride and parted clouds as I made my way 'round a nice 30 mile loop for 1:50. It was an abbreviated version of my normal post work road loop, cutting out a killer climb, but it was still sooo good to be back in the saddle.

Heat was not killer since the sun was behind the clouds a lot, but it was as humid as a trip aboard a Sapphic Love Boat. The ride was pretty cool. I seemed to be on the edge of dark rain clouds and sunshine the entire ride. Many times the sun would come out and allow me to see my elongated shadow spinning along side of me, as I moved forward into dark rain clouds. It was like I was always about 5 minutes behind the rain. The roads were wet, but I wasn't getting rained on.

My ass which recently resembled a regurgitated pile raw ground beef, has fully mended thanks to the healing power of Greyhound Juice Anti Friction Cream and Gold Bond Body Ointment. Now I'm all silky smooth. Of course by "silky smooth" I mean my bony, yet still flabby, 36 year old ass is not like a bloody monkey butt.

Granted I didn't do my normal climbs, and I have been off the bike for 3 days, but I was shocked how good my legs felt tonight. I guess shortish power climbs on a road bike are NOT the same as 40 minute climbs on a mountain bike last weekend!

Audio/Visual Update- Been rocking the new Interpol CD (Our Love To Admire) as well as the most recent Black Rebel Motorcycle Club CD (Baby 81). Both CDs got ripped by the critics, but I like to think that after 20+ years of listening to music I can make up my own mind.

Interpol is damn good and if you like their previous efforts you'll dig this one too. The BRMC is good but it's just big, seedy, dumb, fuzzy, rock and roll by guys who spent a lot of time listening to The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Verve, Primal Scream, and getting high. Still a fun listen.

Also recently been totally into an HBO show called John From Cincinnati. Surfers, junkies, freaks and f*cked up shit. Sucked me in good. The 3 episodes I've watched is the most non cycling TV I've watched in a LONG time. It's sort of like Twin-Peaks but with surfers. Not sure WHY that it works. It just does.

"What do YOU want Butchie Yost?"

Later.

Rest or A New Plan?

So today was day 3 off the bike. My ass is about healed up (no scabs left) and I plan a low key road ride after work tomorrow.

Once I got up from the floor where I was elevating my legs, I cracked a Sierra Nevada, made some Ground Boca Burger-Sliced Veggie-Cheezy-Pasta-Bake and had an idea. Maybe with the season in it's second half, and the fall bringing the Month of Mud XC Series, maybe I'll just embrace food, beer, and sloth, gain 30 lbs. and race Clydesdale in the fall!

Naahhhhhh. I'd have to buy all new shorts and jerseys. I NEED to get on the bike though or I'll be riding around with a gut hanging out of my jersey. I know, I know it's only been 3 days off the bike, but we're talking about my fragile psyche here! ;)

Time to deep fry some Twinkies and wash it down with whole milk.

Or maybe just go to bed. Later.

2007 Wilderness 101 Race Report

2007 Wilderness 101,
Coburn, PA
August 4th, 2007.

It was nice to get back to the routine of racing after a month with nothing going on for me. I did the 101 back in '05 so I was looking forward to racing it again. Plus being that it's only a 3 hour drive from my house, it's the easiest of all the hundies to get to.

These races are always great because I've met so many great racers over the years, I never feel like I'm heading off alone for an adventure, but a race with friends. This one would be even cooler since fellow teammate and blogger Racin' Rick would be coming down from Maine to race.

Rick hooked us up with the Bikeman.com tent, secured a sweet camp spot and even got us a super plush condo to stay in Friday night via a friend's ex-girlfriend. This allowed us to relax in the a.c., eat some food, watch the Daily Show and get some good sleep in, instead of dealing with the 90% humidity and a hot tent.
Thanks Rick!!

Got in some real good sleep and made it to the camp ground in plenty of time to hit the porta john for #3 in a series of 3 and to hand over my drop bags to the race folks.

My goal for the race was to better my 9:48 time of 2005, but not to go too hard with an 18 hour solo race coming in a couple weeks. Both of these goals would pretty much go out the window during the race, but I still met my overall goals... FINISH, don't die and get my finisher's pint glass to add to my collection.

I used my Salsa Mamasita for this one. In '05 I used my Titus HCR ti hard tail so I figured the Mamasita with her carbon ass end and big wheels would be the ballz for this one. And I was SORT of right. The first 50 or so miles had limited single track and I was feeling good on the climbs. I would occasionally throw on the Reba's lock out, for some out of the saddle climbing and the Mamasita really took off. I had a good pace going, not a "lead pack" pace, but a pace that allowed me to feel pretty confident that I could come in under my previous time.

After Aid Station #3, things went up hill on some single track. It was here that I started wishing for the 1" of added cush that the Dos Niner would have added. I also started regretting adding nearly 10+ p.s.i. in my tires for faster rolling on the forest roads and pavement. This 'caused me to bounce off the rocks like a freaking rubber ball, and for some reason I would not stop let some air out. Why? I'm an idiot.

After aid station #4 thing went straight up hill again. Seemed to be the theme. Fill your belly and then start climbing for anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. I've recently been doing some reading up on sports psychology and I really was putting some of it to use this race.

I found it cool that on the climb up from Aid Station #4 I came up on a woman keeping a nice pace and obviously doing some breathing exercises to help her pace herself. As I approached I started to hear her giving her legs some positive reinforcement. Whatever it takes, seemed like it was working for her. I told her to keep it going and then pushed on.

This climb seemed damn long. Well I guess it WAS damn long! I also passed Matt (Henry's/Twin-Six) walking his single speed up the climb. Matt would later blow by me on the down hill. As I passed Matt yells "MAMA-SIII-TA!!!!!"

Then a few minutes later a dude from Pittsburgh Pro Bikes pull up along side rocking a Mamasita. We chatted a bit and then he flatted. Sorry dude. Must have caught my mojo.

Once the climb finally ended my junk was really getting kicked. The heat was BRUTAL! I was covered in salt and realizing that while I did fill my bottles at the last aid station I skipped filling my Camel Back. Why? I'm an idiot.

I was on some rooty and rocky fresh trail that bordered an electric fence, the sun was beating down and just needed to stop and collect myself a bit. Downed some Gatorade, dowsed some water on myself and contemplated throwing myself on the electric fence.

The next 25 to 30 miles had some of the rockiest trails of the race and I was getting beat up pretty bad. Arms, legs, feet, and especially my freaking ass was killing me. I telling you I felt like I let my naked ass sear to a hot grill and then jumped off.

On one of the most technical rocky descents of the race I took a nice spill on the rocks, over the bars and onto the jagged rocks with my shoulder and hip taking the blows. The bike was good and all I received was some scrapes and black and blue marks, I'm damn ok with that.

On one flattish but rocky trail I was really struggling. I took a good slap to the boyz via my saddle and then started pedaling out of shear anger. Amazing what a little nut slap will do for your motivation! Maybe I should have done this earlier (pedaled harder, not slapped my nuts), since I was pedaling hard through some gnarly rock gardens with one goal- make it to the next forest road so I could try to put the hammer down to the next aid station for some freaking hydration!!. I finally made it to the road and started the climb and tried to relax. IF you call a 35+ minute climb "relaxing".

I finally made it to the aid station. I was way far out of my finishing goal, but felt like I would most likely be finishing. Big thanks to the woman at the last aid station that gave me a can of Pepsi out of her private stash. Downed the Pepsi, belched and then filled up with some orange Gatorade with tons of ice to help me get to the finish. I could not keep my drinks cold enough!

The race would throw one last endless mental kick in the junk climb, then a screaming down hill, a rocky hike-a-bike , a narrow bridge crossing, and two dark as night tunnels before bringing me back to Coburn to some good beer and tasty burgers.

I made it through, with an abysmal time of 10:42, got my pint glass and sat my ass down. I finished 68th out of 160+ Open Male starters (OFFICIAL RESULTS/STORY HERE). The way I figure there were still way more guys who didn't finish or finished behind me than ahead of me, so I guess I have to enjoy that small victory.

After a brief chat with Rick who finished in a great 38th place (OPEN MALE) it was off for a cold shower and some teeth gritting as I worked on cleaning up my chap ass.

All in all another great time. Got to push myself hard on the bike again, hang with some friends, and enjoy a couple of fine beverages from Otto's Pub. The Double IPA was my fave.

So a couple weeks to recover then I head back down to Virginia for an 18 Hour Solo race. Sweet!

Later.

Mega Short 101 Report

The '07 Wilderness 101 alternated between being great and sucking ass.

In the end I finished in 10:42. Results are HERE. Placing sort of sucked. Had the race been 75 miles long it would have rocked, 'cause I was feeling damn good for about 50+ miles. I started sucking a hairy one after aid station 3 and really sucked a hairy one from aid station 4 on. I mean it was a full on man love sucking.

Oh well I'll have more of a recap after real night's sleep, I can sit without wincing, and I digest the insane amount of crap food I ate today. Including the 10 pieces of pizza and 3 beers I just ate.

For an idea of how freaking hot I got, check out the amount of salt I put out on the jersey...

Amazingly enough I only cramped once over the 101 miles!

Time fore bed. Later.

Edited: Had some wrong info on my placing earlier. Added the link to the results. My bad.

Tid Bits, Prepping & What Not

Not too much going on tonight. It was 90+ degrees at 5 P.M. according to the Soob's thermometer, so I made the call to just spin the legs for a short while tonight instead of putting the body through a road ride in that sort of stroke out heat.

After that it was some packing and and food prep for tomorrow's trip to State College and Saturday's Wilderness 101. Pretty stoked to be going back to the 101 after missing it last year.

I found it interesting that Chris Eatough has decided to pass on the 24 Hour World Solo Championship this year. Good for him I say. He can finish off the NUE Series, most likely winning it overall, and then hit Moab where the loot for the solo winner should be pretty sweet. [STORY HERE]

Speaking of Eatough he and J. Bishop will be laying tread at the Wilderness 101 on Saturday at the 101 with other big guns like Tostado , Gerry P. and Harlan. There is gonna be a stacked field of talent there and it will be fun to watch how it plays out. Myself I will be going in with the plan of just trying to best my 2005 time of 9:48. Other than that I'm keeping it pretty low key with an 18 Solo coming up in a couple weeks.

There is also going to be a ton of other super fast racers at the 101 that I enjoy racing with: Andy, Jeff W., Buddy, Rick, Rich B., Brett D., Pedro. Good luck to all those folks and safe travels to State College.

Hydration is going to be key. High temps look to be near 90 with some serious butt crack humidity, so best to "make hay" in the early a.m. hours for the afternoon will be a scorcher.

The "Catch-22" of the bottles vs. hydration pack has be eating at me. I mean I admit I've gotten REAL used to riding without the weight of a pack, BUT 90 degrees and 10,000' of total elevation gain is going to demand some serious hydration. So, even though I won't be carrying much more liquid than the equivalent of about 2 bottles worth of Heed in my pack, I'm more likely to take sips from the pack, sooooooo, the pack it will be.

In other news, I'm sure most everyone has heard of the tragedy that occured out in Minneapolis on Wednesday. send some good vibes towards the Twin-City please. I've been lucky to hook up with and talk to lots of fine folks from that area (Twin-Six, Salsa, Gen. Mills, etc,) so I hope that today finds them, their friends and families all safe.

Well, that's about it 'till Sunday folks. Have a good weekend. I leave you with this....

I feel inspired by David Millar and may replicate this look on Saturday.
Might go with red socks though. Thoughts?

Later.

Social D.

Wifey and I are off to see Social Distortion tonight. Should be sorta fun. I dig 'em. Not as much as riding, but it'll do.

Later.